Having never served on the committee before I must admit the job of being chief guide is a little daunting. Luckily the good job that Amanda has done over the last three years includes a great handover. I hope I can keep up the efficient work.
The main thing I have inherited from Amanda is a very well stocked trip schedule for Winter. It is great to see so many people leading trips and in particular I would like to thank all those for whom this will be their first time leading. Now everyone else get out there and go places, lots!
As chief guide one of the first things I am trying to do is reinforce the support for trip leaders. There will be a leadership course on 3rd August and this is a good chance for those who are still a little unsure about leading a trip to gain some experience in the organisational and people management aspects of trip leading.
Even if you have already led a trip you are more than welcome to go along and I can assure you there are plenty of good learning.
Another key skill both for leading and also for tramping is navigation. It is more than acceptable to get lost but less useful not to be able to work out where you are having done so. The schedule has a lot of “nav” or navigation trips on it run by the some of the more experienced leaders and this is a good opportunity to increase yours skills and confidence.
Finally as a club we are more than happy to acknowledge that trip leading is not for everyone and there are plenty of other ways to help out. However you can still support the trip leader by making their life easy. Doing the following really helps:
1) Answering the emails quickly and paying promptly.
2) Thanking the leader at the end of the trip. Make sure they know you appreciate their effort! (Well, within limits.)
3) Offer to help when you can, e.g. cook the evening meal
4) Smile!